Disclaimer: I don't own Voltron or its original Japanese version Golion. Both are the property of their original creators and/or importers/dubbers. I'm just borrowing them for some non-profit entertainment. Also, I don't own the original Gundam 0079 theme song. That belongs to its original composer and also the magical voices of Kushida Akira , Mizuki Ichiro, Sasaki Isao, and Kageyama Hironobu.

The Sindariin

Chapter Fourteen:

"Gah! Ugh!" Amue grunted as she was slammed against the console of Yellow Lion's cockpit. Since she could not train on Blue Lion the boys had decided that having her practice piloting on Yellow Lion was the next best thing. If she couldn't pilot one foot why not try the other? But piloting a mechanized Lion robot was a heck of allot different than piloting a stolen Galran freighter or slave ship and the Heraclesian princess was having a tad more trouble with it than she had expected. How in the world had Fala managed to master the thing?

"Get up." Kogane's voice growled over her intercom and she snarled at the receiver.

Learning to command a Lion was difficult enough without his domineering and aggressive pushing. There was a fine line between being a motivational commander with high expectations for his subordinates and just an overbearing ass. Kogane had found and was riding that line with her and Amue was getting very tired of it. She wanted to rescue her cousin and get her revenge on Sincline just as much as he did but the Earth-born Golion Team Chief's attitude was becoming detrimental to her pilot training.

Yellow Lion climbed back to its four feet and the princess' voice called over the air-waves, "I'm up, I'm up!"

No sooner had she said this, however, than Black Lion pinned the sunshine-yellow cat back down with one large mechanized paw on its head and another on its side. "Not fast enough!" Kogane shouted. "If I was a beastman you'd be dead right now!"

In retaliation Yellow Lion's tail whipped across Black Lion's snout scratching it's perfectly polished metallic sheen and throwing the Lion off balance just enough for Amue to wriggle her practice Lion out from under him. Once again standing on all fours the battle-princess piloted the mech away from her commander, putting a little distance between the two of them before turning to launch a barrage of gatling missiles at him. Black Lion dodged them with ease and retaliated with an attack of his own.

Amue dodged Kogane's attack, leaping over the cloud of debris kicked up by his attack, Yellow Lion rushed her foe. Black Lion batted the on-coming claws aside and bit into Yellow Lion's neck. Amue's Lion thrashed in Kogane's vice-like jaw in a vain attempt to free herself and continue the session. She swatted at his underbelly with her claws but it had little effect on the larger Lion.

"Power down." Kogane ordered." His command, however, went ignored as Yellow Lion continued to struggle and thrash in Black Lion's tightly locked jaw. "Damn it, princess, stop struggling and power down! We're done for today."

Following his own orders, the Golion Team Chief released Yellow Lion and backed away. Black Lion assumed a sitting position and powered down. The hatch atop the cat's head was popped open and the commander climbed out. Standing atop Black Lion's head with his arms crossed he scrutinized Yellow Lion, glaring at it while waiting for Princess Amue to do the same. Yellow Lion walked up to sit beside Black Lion, the two cat's heads almost touching. Yellow Lion's hatch opened and the Heraclesian princess climbed out. She climbed from Yellow's head onto Black's to confront the Chief.

"You're an ass!" She snapped. "You're a pushy, overbearing, insensitive ass!"

Kogane remained unmoving while she delivered her somewhat two-demintional assessment of his character, his expression partially concealed by his white and red helmet. "Anything else?"

Amue growled between her teeth but said nothing more.

"Okay then. Take Seidou's Lion back to the castle's hangar. You've got the afternoon off, we'll continue tomorrow."

The princess did not jump to follow his commands. "Its not Seidou's Lion." She growled.

"What?"

"Its not Seidou's Lion." She repeated. "Yellow Lion and all the Lions belong to Fala, not the men who pilot them."

"Fine. Take Fala's Lion that Seidou pilots back to the castle's hangar. We'll continue your training tomorrow."

...

With a grunt of frustration the Empress switched off the display. She had spent the past four days pouring over maps of Demon Castle and still hadn't found a way out. At least, not a way out that would actually allow for escape. Fala didn't thin she'd get very far just strolling out the front gate (although, she did find the idea amusing). But she could not locate a single secret passage or hidden tunnel or anything that wouldn't be highly traveled by slaves or castle personnel that she could escape from.

Disappointed and displeased the Altean-born Galran Empress pushed her seat back from the library table and stood, stretching. Her menstruation had drawn to a close the previous night and her time was up. If she didn't find a way out of the castle before she retired this evening, before Sincline summoned her to his chambers... she didn't want to think about what would happen if she couldn't escape and instead stormed from the castle's pubic library, her guards falling into formation around her in dutiful silence.

Remembering their presence the Empress paused. She turned to that guard closest to her and demanded the woman call for her Captain. Fala didn't know if any of her other guards spoke her language but she had already formed an acquaintance (of sorts) with the Captain and, to a small extent (very small) trusted her. She instructed the guard to have the Captain meet her in the sitting room of her private chambers and the Captain was already waiting by the door for her when Fala returned to the residential floor of the castle.

"You summoned me, You Majesty." The Captain bowed respectfully before opening the chamber door and stepping aside for Fala to pass.

The Empress took up the same seat she had had during their last little 'heart-to-heart' while the Captain this time sat in an over-stuffed arm chair across from her.

"Yes, Captain, I did." Not sure how to go about pumping the Galran woman for information Fala asked something that, while not pertinent, had been a general curiosity of hers. "What exactly is your job?"

"To guard you, Your Majesty." The Captain answered dutifully.

The Empress pursed her lips. That was an honest answer, but 'guard' did have a rather ambiguous meaning. Prisoners were 'guarded' to prevent them from escaping while dignitaries were 'guarded' to protect their safety. It was the Captain's job to keep her imprisoned within the castle as much as it was her job to protect Fala's life. "And what does 'guarding' me entail?"

"I'm to make sure no harm befalls your person, Your Majesty. I'm also to intercept any intrigues or defuse any possible scandals before they occur."

"What if we're attacked?"

"My team and I will defend you, obviously."

"And if the castle is taken...?" Fala trailed off not sure how to finish the question and not sure if asking such things would rouse suspicion.

If the Captain detected her motives in asking she did not show it, her expression remained the same as it was when the conversation first began as she answered. "The I am to personally escort you to safety, Your Majesty."

"How?"

Here the corners of the Captain's lips curled upwards in what Fala assumed was supposed to be an apologetic smile. "Forgive me, Your Majesty, but I've been given strict instruction not to give you that information. His Eminence is under the impression that you might leave him." Here the woman's smile changed from apologetic to knowing before her expression returned to the stoic business-like mask she usually wore. "Of course that's just paranoia on his part, I'm sure. Men can be so needy sometimes, don't you agree?"

"Yes... needy..." The Empress echoed hesitantly.

"Is there anything else you require, Your Majesty?" The Captain asked.

"I..." Fala paused. Just looking at maps wasn't going to help her get out, she need to actually know a thing or two about the castle and its surrounding landscape, as it was she knew nothing. She was deplorably clueless and needed a way of becoming informed. She was rather confident in her guess that no one in the whole blasted Empire would actually tell her anything close to what she needed to know. That left her the option of eavesdropping to glean little facts and tid-bits from side conversations in the halls. But she didn't know the language... "Yes, Captain, there is something else you can help me with."

"Name it, Your Majesty."

"I've been Empress of the Galra Empire for almost two weeks now and I still can't speak the native language." She answered, flashing what she hoped was an apologetic smile of her own. "I don't suppose you'd be willing to teach me."

The Captain paused, as if unsure of how to respond. Fala was pretty sure that tutoring wasn't in her job description. But at the same time, it was a request from her Empress and within the Galra Empire a 'request' was basically the same thing as a command only slightly more polite and with less threat of bodily injury. Finally, after a prolonged pause the Captain said, "Academia has never been one of my strong suits, but... I would be honored to teach you my language, You Majesty. And perhaps a bit more of our culture as well...?"

"Um, yes. That too." The Empress nodded. "Lets begin right away!"

"Uh... Perhaps Your Majesty would be kind enough to allow me some time to prepare some sort of lesson plan?" The Captain asked awkwardly. "As I said, academia is not one of my strong suits and I've never taught anyone but my daughters before and that was only basic combat training, nothing academic in nature."

"Oh." Fala was crestfallen. Of course her Guard Captain wouldn't be prepared to teach her anything. "Yes, tomorrow then."

Now with her new assignment, the Captain stood to leave. "I shall be ready by tomorrow, Your Majesty." A polite bow. "Shall we meet in the library at tenth hour tomorrow?"

"No, lets do it here!" The Empress quickly breathed. It would just throw a wrench into her plans if the entire castle knew she as learning their language. People might start censoring their conversations around her so she wouldn't be able to eavesdrop. All her effort would then be wasted! "I want to keep this a secret until I've master it. I, uh... I want it to be a surprise for Sincline."

The corner of the Captain's eye twitched slightly, the Galran version of raising one eyebrow. "Very well, Your Majesty, our lessons will not appear in my daily reports."

Fala breathed a sigh of relief. "Thank you, Captain. Uh, there is one more thing..."

"Yes, Your Majesty?"

"What's your name? If we're going to be spending so much time together I can't very well keep calling you by your job-title now can I."

"There is nothing wrong with calling me 'Captain', Your Magesty. I worked very hard to get where I am today. But, my name is Nera, Nera ni Teglin."

"Nera..." Fala tested the alien name deciding that it wasn't all that terrible. Short and easy to pronounce, hard to mangle and easy to remember. "Thank you, Nera. I'll see you tomorrow."

Captain Nera bowed again before exiting the suit.

...

It was late evening back on Heracles and Black Shift, Kogane's watch on the Galran freighter, was just beginning. He ignored the coffee service that had been set-up beside his seat and watched Shorty and a group of techs hunched over a technical readout of the ship and conversing in hushed tones. He glared at the back of his comrade's lime green jumpsuit as if doing so would make him magically figure the machine out any sooner. Every day they spent putzing around with that machine was one more day that left Fala at Sincline's mercy. Kogane unconsciously lifted one hand to stroke the chain on which he had strung Blue Lion's key. He had taken to wearing the talisman around his neck, both as a way of keeping it safe and to keep Fala close to his heart.

'Fala... I hope you're safe...'

"Hey, pal, why so serious?"

"Huh?" The Black Lion pilot turned to see that Kurogane had taken a seat on the floor beside him without his notice.

"I'm supposed to be the 'Moody' one, remember?" Kurogane gave him an ironic grin. "Recently, it seems you've trying to steal my nickname. What's up with that? Not cool, dude. Why, I could sue you for trademark infringement."

"What do ya want, Moody? I'm on guard duty." The Chief growled, not at all amused by his friend's wise-cracking sense of humor.

"Mm, yes, I can see that." The Red Lion pilot stretched out on the cold metal plated floor beside Kogane's chair. "I can also see that you haven't sleeping well too. Not a good habit for someone pulling guard duty."

And it was true. The Golion Team Chief hadn't been sleeping well at all. In fact, he had been making himself sick with worry over what might be happening to Fala at that very moment while he was stuck here unable to help her. He would wake up at odd hours of the night in a panic thinking he'd lost Blue Lion's key only to find it sitting on his bedside table exactly where he'd left it before going to bed. When he did sleep it was sporadic and fitful. His dreams were plagued by visions of Sincline and all the possible cruelties he could inflict upon the innocent young princess of Altea.

"I'm fine." He lied. "I've got everything under control."

"Yeah, about that... Ever think that just maybe that might become a problem?"

Kogane stared agape at his friend. "How can being in control ever be a bad thing?"

"Don't ya think you're being just a little over controlling?" Kurogane shot back. "Over controlling and paranoid. Look, I get it. You're the team leader, you think its all your responsibility, you wanna rescue the princess and you know we're really only gonna get one real shot at it, dude... you're making yourself crazy and you're making everyone else around you crazy to. And I am not above dragging you away from your post to beat some sense back into you behind the radiator sheds if that's what it takes."

"I'm fine, Moody." The Chief insisted. "Your concern is appreciated, but not necessary."

"You're not fine." The Red Lion pilot insisted. He rose from his reclining position and walked over to the coffee service and filled a disposable cup half-way. "But, since I'm none to keen on the idea of slugging it out behind the radiator sheds -my face is just to pretty to risk messing it up- I came prepared with another remedy for you. Observe! Nothing up here..." Kurogane rolled up the right sleeve of his jacket. "Nothing up here..." He rolled up the left sleeve of his jacket. "And nothing up here." He tapped the side of his head hoping to get at least a small chuckle from his friend but Kogane's expression remained skeptical. "But... what have I here...?"

The Red Lion pilot reached into an inside pocket of his jacket and withdrew a small metal flask. This he opened and poured its contents into the already half-full cup of coffee which he then offered to the Chief.

"I'm on guard duty." The Black Lion pilot reminded him.

"And I'm on stick-from-ass-removal duty. Now drink up." Kurogane pressed the cup into Kogane's hands. "I'll be here the whole time to make sure you don't start singing the Gundam theme with your underwear on your head like we did back at the Academy. Remember that? We had just completed our final year and got our first assignments as real Space Pilots, that was some celebration!"

The Black Lion pilot's face turned an impressive shade of red at the reminder of his drunken Gundam karaoke with his own undergarments on his head. It had probably been the single most embarrassing moment of his adult life. But wait... "I thought you said you didn't remember that party! You lying bastard!"

"Memory's a funny thing..." The Red Lion pilot gave his friend an evil grin, glad that he was momentarily distracted from his worries. "Ya know, its been years since I've heard that song, how did it go again...?"

"Don't you dare!" Kogane leapt to his feet.

Kurogane retreated a few paces away from his Chief and began to sing. "Bou e ata re, ou e ata re..."

"Don't! Stop that!" The Black Lion pilot lunged at his friend, spilling the alcohol laced coffee over the floor in his attempt to reach Kurogane and shut him up. The Red Lion pilot, however, continued to evade him, staying just out of arms reach but still close enough to taunt him like an arse.

"What was that, Chief? 'Don't stop that'? Okay." Another evil grin passed over his lips. "Kidou... senshi, Gundamu! Gundamu!"

By this point Shorty and the group of techs he'd been working with had taken notice of the other two pilots' antics and where watching with mingled expressions of confusion and amusement. (Except for Shorty, whom was just amused. He had also been at that particular party.)

"Ya know, one thing that's always confused be about that night..." Kurogane began while continuing to evade his friend and commanding officer. "... how did you manage to get your trunks off without taking off your pants? That takes some real skill there, that does."

Kogane gritted his teeth and charged the Red Lion pilot, tackling him around the mid-section and the two of the went tumbling to the ground to land in a heap. The Black Lion pilot pinned his friend to the ground, one hand over Kurogane's mouth in an effort to silence him. That is, his hand was over his mouth until the moody pilot licked Kogane's palm.

"Ew!" The Golion Chief wiped his slobbery hand on his pants leg and glared down at his friend.

"Nice to see you're relaxed enough to be grossed out." Moody smiled back up at him. "Now can you let me up? We lay like this any longer and people might start to think this is a slash-fic."

...

Fala examined the segment wall that she knew slid out of place to form a secret door between her bedroom and Sincline's. The door had not been marked on any of the castle maps she had studied, so it was safe to assume that none of the secret passages the castle might have would have been marked on the maps. The only way to find any of them would be to already know where they are. Tough luck. But maybe if she studied her own secret door the Empress might be able to recognize some sort of indicator that could help her find other hidden doors or passages in the castle. And so she scrutinized her segment of wall looking for anything that might hint at the hidden door.

Her eyes saw no seem where the door slide away from the main wall and she ran her hand over the intricately patterned and delicately textured wall paper thinking she might be able to feel it with her fingers instead. No luck. It felt just like a wall, solid and unmoving. Fala sighed and pulled the empty wall scone that was the lever that activated the door and watched closely as the paper covering it changed color and the door slid out of the way. She glimpsed a dark wood chair with dark blue seat cushion in Sincline's room on the other side, one of his black and gold tunics was laying over its back, casual and care-free.

She pushed the scone back into its place and the door returned to its normal position in the wall, the wallpaper covering it changing back to its normal color. Fala sighed and rested her forehead against the wall-door. Maybe it would look different from Sincline's side...?

She pulled the scone again and stepped through the door... and froze in her tracks. None other than Sincline himself stood before her, his tunic off, his under shirt half unbuttoned, barefooted with no gloves and looking very confused. "Fala...?"

Fala didn't say anything. She turned right back around meaning to bolt back through the still open door and back to her own room. This had been a terrible idea! She didn't make it through the door, Sincline moved at the exact same time she had and moved faster. The secret door slammed shut before she could step a single toe through it. Once again, the Empress now found herself trapped in Sincline's quarters. She turned around, her back pressed against the wall and stared up at her husband.

He placed his hands on the wall, boxing her in and leaned down as if for a kiss but instead inhaled deeply. "You're no longer menstruating."

Fala shuddered at the idea that he could know that simply from smelling her and she trembled slightly. The Empress was not looking forward to what she know her husband planned to do next.

"Come away from the door, darling, and make yourself more comfortable."

He head her by the hand over to the bed when she sat almost mechanically. Fala expected him to push her down, crawl on top of her and tear at her clothing to take what he wanted from her body. But he didn't. Instead, Sincline resumed what he had been doing prior to her barging in through the hidden door -undressing.

"I must say, I never would have thought you'd be the one to come and seek me out." He was saying as his nimble azure hands quickly unfastened the remaining buttons of the simple shirt he liked to wear under his tunics. The garment was cast aside to join his tunic on the chair and the Emperor then began unlacing his trowsers. "I must confess, the first time the door opened I feared it might be an assassin already finished with you and coming to murder me. I really must see about getting thumb-print locks put on that door."

"No, don't to that!" Fala suddenly exclaimed. If he was going to put a lock on that secret door, what other hidden doors and passages would he be locking? If they all ended being locked how would she ever get out? What even be the point in trying to find them?

Sincline smiled at her as he pealed the dark material of his pants from his muscular legs. "Of course, a lock of any sort would take some of the spontaneity out of our trysts." Wearing only his underwear now, the Emperor stalked towards the bed. Fala backed up further on to onto the mattress and crab-walked to the other side in an attempt to get away from him, almost falling on her head when her hand slipped off the edge. She was caught by her husband before she could actually fall, however. "I'm so happy you came to me tonight." He whispered. "I must remember to thank the goddess Aradianya."

He lowered his lips on to hers in one of his uncharacteristically gentle kisses. He leaned back, bringing them both up to a sitting position on the bed while deepening his kiss to the more demanding and aggressive type she had come to associate with him while his hands fiddled with the lacing of her dress. Fala gasped when the bodice loosened from around her midsection and her husband took the opportunity to plunge his tongue into her mouth.

She struggled out of his grasp, nearly toppling off the bed a second time. "Please, can we not have sex tonight?"

"Why?" Sincline once again pulled her toward him, slipping the fabric of her dress off her delicate round shoulders revealing the bite mark he's made there. During the week's reprieve her period had given her, the gashes on Fala's back had completely healed. His velhil on her shoulder on the other hand had not. It had healed a good deal without him constantly ripping it open again and again every night, but the wound had been to severe for just five days amnesty to heal fully. He ignored the bite mark for the moment, however, and instead trailed butterfly kisses down her neck and across her collar bone.

"Because..." Fala continued to struggle in his embrace. She couldn't very well tell him she didn't want to sleep with him anymore because she was terrified of becoming pregnant. Getting pregnant was sort of an Empress' job. She couldn't say it was because she hated him and each time he'd been inside her already was awful, the sort of thing nightmares were made of. She supposed she could lie and say she was feeling ill, but then if he could tell she was no longer menstruating from her scent alone he might be able to catch her in the lie as well.

"Because...?" He teased, one hand drifted downward to lift her skirts up, bunching her dress up around her mid section. Sincline pressed his erection, still contained behind that fabric of his undergarments, between her legs.

"Please stop." The Empress pleaded already knowing it would have no effect. He never honored her requests to 'stop' or 'wait', and 'please'...! Ha! 'Please' wasn't even in his vocabulary.

"No." Sincline whispered and her bloomers were ripped open by his sharp claws while his other than worked furiously to unlace her corset an free her sumptuous round breasts.

"Pregnant!" She shouted.

Sincline froze. "What? But you just had your period..."

Fala scuttled out of his arms and attempted to cover herself. "I'm not pregnant. That's not what I meant to say." Now what was she going to do? She had to play this off somehow lest he become angry with her again. How much of an insult would he take it as to find out that the idea of becoming pregnant with his offspring was more horrible to her than any other injustice that can be committed by one being against another. But she had to explain her outburst somehow... "What I mean is we're still newly weds. We're still getting used to each other. Its far to soon for us to conceive a child but that's what'll happen if we continue to sleep together like this."

"Oh." He chuckled. Sincline actually chuckled at her. "Is that all."

"That seems like allot to me." She whispered back.

"Ah, Fala, my dearest..." Her husband sighed. "Pregnancy is the least likely thing that could happen between us."

"What?" She blinked.

He flashed her a toothy grin offering an impressive view of his fangs. "I'm a half-breed, I'm sterile, darling. I can't have children."

"What?" She repeated. "How do you know?"

"Consider this: in all the years I've been having sex, and all the women I've slept with... not a one of them has ever gotten pregnant. Not one." Sincline closed the distance between them and pushed her dress back down from her shoulders. Reaching his arms around her he resumed unlacing her corset. "It would take an act of the gods for me to get you pregnant, my dearest. So don't worry."

The corset gave way and the Emperor slid it down her body, pulling the dress Fala wore over it off at the same time. She lay on the bed beneath him now clad only in her torn bloomers and he lowered his lips to the bite on her shoulder. The Empress covered the wound with her hand before his mouth could graze it.

"I know what this means now." She said in a soft but even voice. "I know what vel is, more or less, and I know that this is your velhil."

"Wonderful!" And a grin of true pleasure spread over his beautiful alien features before Sincline once again lowered his face to his ardan's shoulder. But to the Emperor's great annoyance she did not remove her hand from over the mark.

"I know what this means and I don't want you to do it anymore."

That smile of pleasure he'd been wearing previously vanished in an instant and was replaced by a placid and blank mask that hid all indication of his thoughts from his features. "And why is that?"

"Because we are not ardan." Fala answered plainly. "You may think you're 'passionately devoted' to me or whatever but that's just you. I do not feel any sort of arda for you in return and I don't want you sucking my blood. I don't want to suck your blood either."

His face remained the bland and stoic unreadable mask as he stood from the bed and began pacing the room.

Unsure of how to react to this more subdued reaction from him Fala continued. "I'm sorry if this upsets you. But I just don't feel the same way about you as you do for me."

He snorted derisively. "And so you don't want to be my ardan."

Fala shook her head in a silent 'no'. Sincline was much calmer than she had expected him to be. Was this all it would have taken to get him to louse interest in her? Just to tell him that she didn't want to be his ardan knowing what that meant?

"Well, that's just... fine." Her husband growled before storming from the room.

The Empress blinked in abject shock, that was the least likely thing she'd have expected him to do. So uncharacteristic were his actions that she sat frozen on the bed asking herself if that had really just happened. If she were smarter, Fala would have taken the opportunity his absence offered to both from his room and back to the safety of her own bedroom. Unfortunately for the Altean-born Galran Empress her loving husband returned before she had the chance to.

Sincline stood framed in the doorway that separated the bedroom from the sitting room clad in nothing but his undergarments and holding long black rope cord. "That's just fine."

"What's that for!" Fala gasped.

He didn't answer, her husband silently stalking towards the bed with a malicious leer upon his alien features. "Its fine if you don't want to be my ardan." Sincline whispered almost lovingly when he reached her. "I had hoped you would appreciate the elevated status it gave you; more than just being a mere wife. But if you don't want it that just... fine..."

He took both her delicate hands in one of his and coiled the rope around them slowly, as if wrapping a precious package with love and care.

"What are you..."

"I have a whole Collection of whores who hate me down stairs. What's one more?"

"No!" Fala gasped. "What are you planning! Stop it!"

She began to struggle furiously against his vice-like grip but he refused to give and only pulled the rope tighter around her wrists.

"You're only making this harder on yourself." Sincline whispered as if soothing a distraught loved one. The other end of the rope he tied to the headboard of the bed in a tight knot that he was sure she wouldn't be able to untangle. Sure that she wasn't going anywhere now once again disappeared in to the sitting and shortly returned with an empty glass and an open bottle of champaign, the same bottle they had drank on their wedding night. He walked to the bedside table and withdrew from the top drawer a small glass jar filled with a fine pink powder. Sincline measured out two spoonfuls of this powder into the empty glass before poring the champaign in over it. This he swirled around until the powder had completely dissolved before holding it out to Fala. "Drink this."

"You drink it." His lovely blushing bride snarled in abject loathing.

He smiled in malicious amusement but did not say anything in response. Instead her loving husband grabbed her nose, forcing her to open her mouth to gasp for breath. The moment her lips parter he pressed the glass to her open mouth and dipped its contents down her throat. Fala gaged, spitting half of it on the bed before Sincline had to hold her mouth shut forcing her to swallow.

"Naughty girl." He crooned and fixed a second glass. "Now lets try again without spilling."

Her mouth was once again forced open and the concoction pored down her throat. This time she drank it all with little protest, not wanting him to repeat the process a third time. She wasn't sure what it was he was giving her but she sure it wouldn't kill her. Of all things he wanted her to do or be for him, 'dead' was not one of them.

"There now..."

"What was that!" She demanded.

"The same thing I gave you on our wedding night." Sincline replied with an evil grin on his deceptively beautiful face. "Just a stronger dose."

"What will a stronger dose of that relaxant do to me?"

"It will not harm you, if that's what you're worried about." He replied and ripped her already torn bloomers the rest of the way off. Fala now lay completely naked tied to his bed and glaring up at him breathless. "But I lied to you that night. It wasn't a 'relaxant', its an aphrodisiac."

Sincline grabbed the book from his bedside table and moved as if to once again leave the room, pausing at the door that separated the bedroom from his sitting room. "You should start to feel it in a few minuets. But I won't be coming to relive you. I've no obligation to satisfy whores who don't give a damn about me."

And with that the door slammed shut behind him.

...